explaining_errors_in_star_trekfandomcom-20200215-history
Alliances
In the Seska '' |image= |series= |production=40840-131 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Jeri Taylor |director=Les Landau |imdbref=tt0708848 |guests=Martha Hackett as Seska, Anthony De Longis as Maje Cullah, Charles O. Lucia as Mabus, Raphael Sbarge as Michael Jonas, John Gegenhuber as Jal Surat, Simon Billig as Hogan, Larry Cedar as Tersa and Ken Gruz as Kurt Bendera |previous_production=Death Wish |next_production=Threshold |episode=VGR S02E14 |airdate=22 January 1996 |previous_release=Prototype |next_release=Threshold |story_date(s)=49337.4 (2372) |previous_story=Prototype |next_story=Crossfire }} Summary A Kazon attack takes the life of another Voyager crewman, this time the popular ex-Maquis soldier Kurt Bendera. Chakotay, a good friend of Bendera, delivers the eulogy and tells of a time Bendera rescued him from angry miners. After the funeral, Michael Jonas and Crewman Hogan tell Captain Janeway Voyager should change the way she operates to be more like a Maquis. Chakotay voices the proposal of forming an alliance with one or two Kazon factions to secure peace, not to trade technology, but to offer protection from attacking forces and emergency supplies. In a following talk with Tuvok, he gave the example of peace formed by the unlikely alliance between the Federation and Klingons and how it helped stabilize the quadrant. Janeway opens up to the idea of an alliance and the officers decide to talk with Seska and her maje (leader), Cullah, about allying with her tribe. Meanwhile, Neelix decides to use some of his contacts to propose an alliance with a different tribe. Initial attempts begin badly, as Cullah detests following orders from a woman. Janeway's rejection of Cullah's offer to trade crew also angers him. Meanwhile, Neelix is abducted before he is able to contact the maje. Neelix is imprisoned with a number of aliens, including many women and children. These are the Trabe, who had been imprisoned because of a generations-long dispute between them and the Kazon. Neelix befriends the Trabe elder, who gets his assurance of help in any escape attempts. Other Trabe forces attack the Kazon stronghold and Neelix, keeping an eye out for the children, assists. They escape on pilfered Kazon merchant-vessels, which had, it was revealed, originally been constructed by the Trabe, along with all the other technology used by the Kazon. Janeway learns about the past between the Trabe and the Kazon, and Janeway decides to pursue paths of an alliance with the Trabe in spite of the danger of the possibility of it rallying the Kazon together against them. They try to pre-empt their wrath by attempting to form peaceful negotiations. Seska finds it a great opportunity to learn the weaknesses of the other tribes and potentially uses it to gain an edge against all other Kazon as well as Voyager and the Trabe. The Voyager crew learns someone is planning to disrupt the conference, but they cannot determine who. They decide that any Kazon who attempts to leave the conference would be the guilty party. The Kazon also hear something is amiss, but all the maje attend, too frightened to be left out of an alliance. The Kazon are suspicious especially of the Trabe, but Cullah is vocal about his distaste for befriending either the hated Trabe or a woman-led Federation. Unfortunately, the Trabe elder is the one to try to leave the conference. Janeway yells out that it is a trap. Janeway and the Trabe-elder beam out as a ship fires into the conference-room. Voyager attacks the ship, driving it away. The Kazon manage to survive. Janeway breaks the alliance with the Trabe and flees before the Kazon are able to retaliate. More vulnerable than ever and in space filled with lawless races, she emphasizes the need to hold on to what rules they have. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # BrianB on Friday, July 09, 1999 - 7:22 am: One question: If the Kazon rule this region of the quadrant, how have other peaceful civilizations such as Earhart and the other humans on planet "Evansville" survived? They could have either been located out of the way of Kazon space, or not considered worth the effort of attacking. # eb on Wednesday, April 12, 2000 - 6:18 am: Doesn't innoculating the Trabe in Sick Bay fall under the heading of violating the Prime Directive? Doesn't it fall under the heading of "sharing technology"? Jwb52z on Wednesday, April 12, 2000 - 12:14 pm: eb, no rendering aid to hurt and sick people is not "sharing technology. Sharing technology would be giving them the actual technology itself to use on their own, not using technology on them to help them. eb on Thursday, April 13, 2000 - 6:49 am: Okay, the point is yours re: sharing technology. But I still don't understand why innoculating the Trabe isn't a violation of the P.D. Jwb52z on Thursday, April 13, 2000 - 1:28 pm: Rendering aide isn't a violation of the Prime Directive to species that are aware of other species in the universe other than their own and are aware of or have warp capability. An example of this is when Data was allowed to contact Sarjenka on (Pen Pals) when Picard said that, since her species was aware of other life in the universe, that the impact on her society would be minimal. Landou Mollaro on Thursday, April 13, 2000 - 7:52 pm: Rendering aid and comfort to the enemy is treason. Aaron Dotter on Thursday, April 13, 2000 - 8:06 pm: I didn't see any treason here- they were bringing the Kazon factions and the Trabe together to try to get them to be peaceful. If anybody committed treason it was the Trabe. # Jessica on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 3:07 pm: I'm puzzled: Why is trading with the Kazon violating the Prime Directive and brokering a peace conference ok? Both change the balance of power. LUIGI NOVI (Lnovi) on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 12:22 am: Maybe a peace conference, particularly one mediated by the Federation, would probably preserve or establish equanimity among the participants, or at least get them to stop killing each other, which would make who's more powerful less of an issue? Jwb52z on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 8:11 pm: Jessica, making peace makes things better for everyone in general and not just one group. Rene on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 8:17 pm: It still changes the balance of power in the sector. Jwb52z on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 11:37 pm: Rene, if it is mutually beneficial for all concerned and keeps the situation equal, it is not a violation. The Federation is well known for mediating peace talks between species. NarkS on Saturday, April 21, 2001 - 10:53 pm: Key word here is "between". The prime directive doesn't concern itself only with "bad" interventions, but interference of ANY kind. Of course there are courses taken at the Academy on this just to learn what qualifies as an "internal" matter and what doesn't. Not to mention that Starfleet captains tend to ignore it whenever they feel like. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 4:59 am: If the Kazon were so close to destroying Voyager at the beginning, then why did they stop shooting? They knew that destroying Voyager would deprive them of any chance to acquire advanced Federation technology! Category:Episodes Category:Voyager